| T H E L A D I E S ' R E P O S I T O R Y . |
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| A P R I L, 1 8 4 6 . |
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| William Baxter | Paul before Agrippa (1846) |
| T H E L A D I E S ' R E P O S I T O R Y . |
|
| A P R I L, 1 8 4 6 . |
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| P A U L B E F O R E A G R I P P A . |
| BY WILLIAM BAXTER. |
| THE royal court is gather'd now, The king is seated on his throne, The door flies wide, the guards retire, The chained apostle stands alone, And meets, with an unshrinking eye, The searching gaze of royalty. The galling chain is on his hand, His mind is all unconquer'd yet; For on his calm and noble brow The seal of lofty thought is set. His limbs are bound, but all can see His lofty spirit still is free. He speaks! what high and burning thoughts, Are on each list'ner's mind impressed-- What fearless eloquence is his-- What wondrous zeal inspires his breast. He seems no prisoner now; but stands, And, as some heaven sent one, commands. That throng quail 'neath his words of power, And owns a master spirit nigh, While he declares that Master's truth, Who once addressed him from the sky. He bids them cast all else aside, And serve him who was crucified. The king himself seems deeply mov'd, All mark his troubled, anxious brow: He cries out, "O, thou man of God! Would that I were even as thou." Almost persuaded then to own Paul's heavenly Master king alone. Happy Agrippa! hadst thou turned, And laid thy regal honors by, And sought those fadeless glories, which Are found at God's right hand on high, From all thy sins and follies freed, Thou wouldst have been a king indeed. They parted; but such holy thoughts Ne'er swelled that monarch's breast again; Repentant tears ne'er cleansed his soul, From sin and its polluting stain. The pris'ner freely shed his blood, A martyr for the truth and God. |
[The Ladies' Repository 6 (April 1846): 107.]
ABOUT THE ELECTRONIC EDITION
William Baxter's "Paul before Agrippa" was first published in The Ladies' Repository, and Gatherings of the West: A Monthly Periodical Devoted to Literature and Religion, Vol. 6, No. 4, April 1846, p. 107. This volume, edited by B. F. Tefft, was published in Cincinnati by L. Swormstedt and J. T. Mitchell and in New York by G. Lane and C. B. Tippett for the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Addenda and corrigenda are earnestly solicited.
Ernie Stefanik
Derry, PA
Created 9 April 2000.
Updated 28 June 2003.
| William Baxter | Paul before Agrippa (1846) |
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